Ebin "Tug" Wilson (August 1869 – December 18, 1948), sometimes spelled Eben Wilson, was an American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

player and coach. He was a starter on the

1901 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1901 Michigan Wolverines football team was an American football team that represented the University of Michigan in the Western Conference during the 1901 Western Conference football season. In their first year under head coach Fielding H. ...

that outscored its opponents 550–0 and later coached football at Wabash College and Alma College.

Early life and playing career

Wilson was born in August 1869. He grew up in Merrill, Michigan and began his college football career playing for Michigan State Normal College—now known as Eastern Michigan University–at Ypsilanti, Michigan. During his senior year in 1898, Wilson was captain of Normal's football team. After graduating from the State Normal school, Wilson enrolled at the University of Michigan as a law student. He played for the University of Michigan football team as a reserve in 1899 and as the starting center in 1900. He was the starting right guard on the

that won the national championship and outscored its opponents by a combined score of 550 to 0. After the 1901 season, the ''Michigan Daily-News'' wrote of Wilson: "He has a great many qualities which combine to make a good guard, but there is one that stands out above all the rest and that is -- strength." He was also the University of Michigan's champion heavyweight wrestler and an expert boxer. At the end of the 1901 season, Wilson was selected as an All-Western player by Rhinehart.

Coaching career

After playing in the

1902 Rose Bowl Originally titled the "Tournament East–West football game," what is now known as the Rose Bowl Game was first played on January 1, 1902, at Tournament Park in Pasadena, California, starting the tradition of New Year's Day bowl games. The inaugu ...

and graduating from Michigan, Wilson became the 15th head football coach at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana. When the hiring of Wilson was announced, the college newspaper at Wabash reported:

Wabash college students believe that they have this year a coach who will do more toward strengthening the team and promoting interests of football in general than has been done in many years in the past. Coach Wilson is the man in whom we place this confidence. Through many years of experience on college elevens, he has certainly gained no mean knowledge of the find points of the game and what is more he has the ability of imparting this knowledge to the players. He states that in drilling the team he expects to follow closely the tactics which he learned in Michigan under Coach Fielding H. Yost, and, in addition, to teach some new plays of his own invention which he is sure are winners.

After Wilson took over as coach in the fall of 1902, the Wabash team compiled a 2–4–2 record that season. In 1903, Wilson led the team to a record of 9–3, including shutout victories over Indiana (5–0),

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...

(46–0), Hanover (51–0), and DePauw (10–0), and an 87–5 win over Franklin. The 1903 Wabash team outscored its opponents by a combined score of 274 to 74. In the final game of the 1903 season, Wabash was beaten by

Notre Dame Notre Dame, French for "Our Lady", a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, most commonly refers to: * Notre-Dame de Paris, a cathedral in Paris, France * University of Notre Dame, a university in Indiana, United States ** Notre Dame Fighting Irish, th ...

, 34–0. His career coaching record at Wabash was 11–7–2. Wilson became the football coach at Alma College in 1904. In addition to coaching football, Wilson was the school's physical director and instructor of physical training for men.

Family and death

Wilson was married to Grace Coy in 1897. At the time of the 1900 United States Census, Wilson and his wife lived in Columbia Township in The Thumb region of Michigan. He worked at a planing mill. In 1910, Wilson remained in Columbia with his wife. By that time, they had a son, Wayne M. Wilson. Wilson's occupation in 1910 was listed as a farmer. At the time of the

1930 United States Census The United States census of 1930, conducted by the Census Bureau one month from April 1, 1930, determined the resident population of the United States to be 122,775,046, an increase of 13.7 percent over the 106,021,537 persons enumerated during ...

, Wilson was still living in Columbia and working as a farmer. His son, Wayne M. Wilson, was living with him and working as a fireman for the Michigan Central Railroad. In 1940, Wilson was living in Saginaw, Michigan, and working as a watchman. Wilson died in 1948 at the Saginaw County Infirmary. He was 78 years old at the time of his death.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Ebin 1869 births 1948 deaths 19th-century players of American football American football centers American football guards Alma Scots football coaches Eastern Michigan Eagles football coaches Eastern Michigan Eagles football players Michigan Wolverines football players Wabash Little Giants football coaches University of Michigan Law School alumni People from Saginaw County, Michigan Coaches of American football from Michigan Players of American football from Michigan